How do you view type?

Hey, I just had some notions bouncing around in my head after reading a couple of threads on here, and i'm wondering if you guys would help me out. I'm wondering how you conceptualize type, and what the letters of a type tell you.

What I mean is, when you think ESTP(or any type or types of your choosing), what do you mentally tie to this? What comes into your mind?

This question can be taken simply, or it can be more complex, but i'd prefer if you would elaborate on your answer a bit, as in where did you get these ideas.

A type is a description of a person in which the details can be loosely lumped together in some broader category. Personality types are specific to personality, but that word itself can use a lot of narrowing down. The MBTI describes people in terms of their cognitive processes (unless you're talking about Keirsey's silly temperament model).

The cognitive processes encompass what information we draw from and what reasoning we use. The theory says that these are rather basic mental procsses and all people use all of them, so the MBTI only describes a preference for one over another. We can then simply draw a line somewhere and say that if a person preference leads to a certain degree in one direction, we can broadly say they are one side of that line (this S/N, and F/T, etc).

For me the type labels are just an orginization and communication tool. They are shorthand for explaining that someone thinks in some general way, but telling my what their preferred cognitive processes are. The questions of someone's MB type are "what is this person noticing?" and "what makes sense to them?".

Go to sleep, iguana.

_________________________________INTP. Type 1>6>5. sx/sp.Live and let live will just amount to might makes right